By Daniel Loepp
Creating healthier communities with healthy futures is essential to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan’s culture. Each of us at Blue Cross is personally invested in our company’s mission because our members are our neighbors, friends and family. We strive to reflect those we serve.
For Michigan to be healthy and strong, we must embrace our diversity, live with empathy and ensure that everyone has a seat at the table. These are pillars within our company.
That’s why the theme of this year’s Mackinac Policy Conference — “The Business Community’s Changing Civic Role in Polarizing Times” — resonates with us. The annual gathering of state, regional and national thought leaders will focus on:
- Advancing diversity as a strength
- Utilizing civility and facts in public discourse
- Building a culture of empathy
- Advocating for the fundamental tenets of American democracy.
For 83 years, Blue Cross has been committed to improving the health of all Michiganders and driven by our belief that everyone deserve access to high-quality, affordable health care. However, we know disparities exist across our state and throughout the country. That’s why we’ve been leading efforts to look at the disparities in health and health care services for more than a decade to promote positive changes for the physical and behavioral health of our members and communities.
During the pandemic, we increased our commitment to building awareness and addressing health care disparities. This included fully implementing our own Office of Health and Health Care Disparities last year; the partnership spreads across our state to identify and resolve health care and other inequities that unfairly impair communities of color, LBTQ+ and people with disabilities. Part of our work of which I’m most proud is providing education about unconscious bias in health care delivery to more than 5,000 of our physician partners, helping improve the care patients receive.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is a socially conscious company guided by a mission: to increase access to affordable health care and improve the health of our members and communities. Just like many longstanding companies, we’ve operated through ebbs and flows and challenging times. We’ve found that working with all of our stakeholders allows us to deliver the best outcomes for those we serve. We’ve made progress by putting emphasis on empathy, facts and civility; embracing and advocating for diversity; and supporting the tenets of American democracy, including equal access to voting and secure elections.
Our successful partnerships have shown us that a civil, inclusive discourse gives us the best opportunity to generate impactful outcomes. This year’s Mackinac Policy Conference offers the leaders and influencers of Michigan’s business community a valuable chance to expand our collective dialogue and develop more common ground. United, we can take a leading role in promoting brighter, equitable futures for all.
Daniel J. Loepp is President and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan